Chapter 165: The Bottom Line and the Guardian's Order [Two in One]
Ryan was not mistaken, the little orphan who had been pounced on by the giant worm was already out of breath, and by the time the refugees arrived with sticks, the corpse could not be colder. Pen Γ fun Γ Pavilion www. ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ γ ο½ο½ο½ο½
"It's done so quickly!" said the client, surprised, "worthy of the famous monster hunter Ryan." β
"Good luck. The hunter smiled bitterly, if nothing happened to him to do this commission according to his style, today is used to observe during the day, and tactics are formulated at night, and it will not be done until tomorrow at the earliest. Encountering a dangerous creature that they didn't know anything about, they rushed up and slaughtered it...... Only the reckless boy around him who is not afraid of the sky and the earth can do such a happy stupid thing. "Weigh that thing. β
A few villagers who helped lifted the insect with a scale and weighed it: "Fifty-five pounds." β
"Fifty-five pounds, according to the agreement, I will give you fifty-five silver. The client stroked his beard, "But since you didn't save the orphan, I can only give you thirty." β
"What?" Ryan instantly lowered his face: "This kid was already dead when you came to me, and our agreement only talked about killing monsters, and the commission didn't involve saving people...... Would you really care if an orphan lives or dies?"
"I care a lot, even if it's an orphan, it's a person from my village. β
"It's a good thing that you care about the people in your village, I must get the full amount agreed. β
"The money is in my hand, I only give thirty, do you like it, can you still come and grab it?" As the old man's words fell, several villagers with sticks surrounded him.
"Hmph. Ryan looked at the people on the other side with disdain: "You are now within my attack range, as soon as I draw my sword, you will die, and you will be killed to deal with me-a few farmers are not enough." β
......
Only then did the client realize that he was indeed standing too close, and his face gradually became bloody: "At first, I thought that monster was so difficult to deal with, but you can easily solve it, and thirty is not less!"
"Hey, uncle, do you want to force your face? Nikita glared angrily at the old man, "How do you know we're going to be able to solve it easily? You'll never know how dangerous it is...... My eldest brother's clothes and sword were ruined, and thirty silver coins can't even make up for the loss!"
"How much is a ......piece of clothing worth? I'll get you some of it later!"
"Forget it, Ryan ......" Rhodes tried to lighten the mood.
"Forget it, stay and go. The hunter glared at him angrily, and then swept his gaze back to the client: "You can give only thirty, or even nothing." As long as I don't get the full amount, I'll take my wolves deep into the forest and drive out groups of strange insects and beasts that live there...... At that point, you'll have to move somewhere or get ten or eight of my peers to come. β
"Okay, okay, count you ruthless! I'll pay the full amount!" the client finally gave in, "Hmph, people who make a living by killing have no bottom line at all." β
"My bottom line is, 'If you say a good price, you can't lose a penny.'" Ruien took the bag of silver coins expressionlessly and weighed it: "If you cross my bottom line, then I dare to have no bottom line." As a friendly reminder, some insect monsters will lay eggs and reproduce on their prey, so if you don't want to face a bunch of bugs after a while, it's best to burn both the bugs and the child's corpse. β
"Thank you for the reminder, but I won't pay any more for your professional reminder. The client shook off the next sentence with a stinky face and turned away.
......
Half an hour later, in the flames ignited by the firewood pile built from the branches of the trees, the little insect xenomorph and its unborn offspring that had been accidentally swept into this world were all reduced to ashes in the heat.
......
After completing a commission on the way, Ryan and Rod, who had no idea that they had just teamed up to save the world, continued to walk along the streets of the refugee camp. The hunter sighed: "Just now I asked that man for the bounty I deserved, and you didn't help pull it down, and what did you say, 'forget it'?"
"Isn't it just a few silver coins......"
"Do you think I care about those silver coins?am I such a money-grubbing person in your eyes?!" Ruien was a little angry, and took out the silver coin bag and stuffed it to Nikita: "Keep it for your eldest brother, he killed the bugs, but unfortunately he doesn't care about this little bit of money." β
"Noβ" Rod was a little flustered, "give it back to him!"
Nikita clutched the silver coin bag and refused to let go, and she also felt that her eldest brother should take the money.
"What I care about is that he touched my bottom line, but said I didn't have a bottom line. "What are we hunters most afraid of? risking our lives to kill monsters and take the corpse to our employer, but the employer wants to pay the bill." We often have to suffer dumb losses, and if the buyer wants to repay the seller, he can still get the goods back, but we hunters can't resurrect the monsters that have been killed. β
"If I honestly accept thirty silver coins, it will give people the feeling that 'monster hunters are easy to bully', and once this feeling spreads, I and countless of my peers will suffer losses, starve, and have to change careers to do some other money-making business, and then no monsters will be killed, and it will be ordinary people who will suffer in the end. β
"I see, I was overthought just now. β
"You are not only thoughtful, you still have a mature three views. Ruien shook his head, "I'll test you, 'two lovers' and 'embarrassment', 'ambition' and 'ambition', 'wealth as life' and 'profit forgetfulness'...... What's the difference between these things?"
"Aren't these just different versions of the same thing? β
"Hmph, you're naΓ―ve. The difference between these things lies in whether the parties have a bottom line. The Hunter said, "I'm a pretty famous monster hunter, and you should have discovered this after spending some time with me." Most people who know me have a lot of respect for me, because I am considered by almost everyone to be a very principled and professional monster hunter. β
Nikita saw that the two of them were no longer bothered with the bag of silver coins, and quietly put it away. She didn't plan to take it privately, this was for the eldest brother's safekeeping, although the eldest brother didn't seem to be bad for money, but it accumulated a lot...... When the change accumulates, it will eventually become a huge amount of money.
"Do you want to know how I managed to maintain this reputation?" Ryan raised his head a little smugly, and couldn't help but show off his skills in dealing with the world, and by the way, he taught the reckless child in front of him, "What is the most terrible person in the world? A person who has no bottom line is no different from a madman, but he is more dangerous than a madman. But with this special exception, everyone has two bottom lines: one to 'claim' in front of others, and one to stick to the bottom of their hearts. The trick I have to earn the respect of most people is that I take the initiative to communicate the bottom line at the very beginning of any contact with a clientele. β
Rod nodded, suddenly interested in the hunter's words.
Since it is to inform the other party, it is natural that what is said cannot be the real bottom line in the heart...... But the difference from ordinary people is that my two bottom lines, one true and one false, are very low, and they are very close to each other. It's so close that I can usually make a 'this is my real bottom line' to interact with people. As long as it is not a special situation of life and death, I will stick to the bottom line of telling the other party as the real bottom line...... In this way, even if the trouble is a little unpleasant, most people will eventually evaluate me with respect: a guy with principles and bottom lines. β
Rhodes was fascinated by the hunter's philosophy of survival, and he felt that what the other party said was quite useful...... It's always easy to be convinced.
"But sometimes there are exceptions. Ryan's tone changed: "The group of monster hunters has always publicly stated that they will not intervene in any disputes and conflicts between intelligent beings, especially between people. But I helped you escape from the arena, and I took part in the battle against the Empire's pursuing raiders a few days ago, killing several Midland soldiers. That's because, when I can save an innocent person I know, or have to fight to protect myself, I'm very decisive in breaking my purported bottom line, even without feeling guilty - because I know that this is my real bottom line. I dare to threaten my employer today to force my employer to give me fifty-five silver coins, but what if he is so strong and powerful that he puts a knife on my neck? Naturally, I can only secretly eat the loss, obediently take thirty silver coins, and leave, because 'collecting the full amount' is only the bottom line of my claim...... Protecting myself is the real bottom line. β
Rod blinked, quickly absorbing and digesting the hunter's philosophy of life. Good things must be studied decisively, which is one of the important principles of life taught by mothers to teenagers. I seem to do everything casually, and I never pay attention to the bottom line, whether it is claimed or true...... Maybe it's time to draw a line for yourself?
Nikita also blinked, she didn't care about any tricks like the bottom line, she just hoped that Ryan had forgotten to stuff her bag of silver coins.
......
Ruien didn't blink, he let out a long breath: "Okay, it's finished, let's find a place to live, the hotel made of tents should be very cheap, just let your new little brother pay us, she is a little rich woman now." β
The man's prediction was wrong, the hotel with tents was quite expensive, and there were not a few people who had no place to live but brought money with them when they fled, and scarcity was expensive. The tent compartments that barely leak wind and rain, and are only enough for an adult to lie down in a "big" shape when they are two meters square, actually give the price of a mid-range hotel.
"Big brother, let's stay in a room, I'll sleep in the corner. Nikita looked at Rhodes pleadingly, "Save some money." β
"Three rooms, one room for one person. Rod said in an unquestioning tone, to be honest, it feels quite cool to have someone who is his little brother both de facto and psychologically can be called.
"Four, Nakalyna wants a wolf to sleep in one. Ryan looked at Nikita with a cruel smile and said that he didn't pay anyway.
Seeing that Rod acquiesced to the hunter's proposal, the girl took out a handful of silver coins from her bag and paid the bill. The huge sum of money that has just arrived will be given away in a blink of an eye...... What she never expected was that the money her eldest brother carried, even if it was only cash, could bury her alive if it was exchanged for silver coins.
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Feeling refreshed after a good night's rest, Rhodes stepped out of the tent hotel and took a deep breath of the "fresh air" of the camp morning, which smelled faintly of excrement even in the early morning.
At this moment, the 100,000 Antelli army is facing off against the nearly 50,000 elite Midland Vanguard Legions on this front where the boy is located, the former is waiting for further orders and reinforcements from the surrounding allies, while the latter is also waiting for the overwhelming main army of the Empire to cross the border and bring the war to the next stage. But I don't know what happened, although the two sides kept small frictions in the middle ground between each other, they didn't wait for the planned helper...... What the hundreds of thousands of nervous soldiers on both sides could not have imagined was that they could not wait for the person they were waiting for, and the Great War between the North and the South was about to enter the thrilling decisive battle of the large corps, when it was rudely interrupted and stopped by an angry mother who could not find her son.
......
Rhodes took a few breaths of the unpleasant air, feeling that the atmosphere was a little strange, he had gotten up early, but more people were already talking noisily in the tent.
"'The Guardian ordered the Anteli army to disband on the spot and surrender to Midland', just because it took us a week to find the Midland kid who was suspected to be the King's Assassin?"
"Where is your focus, isn't the point - what is this 'guardian'? β
"I've only heard of the 'Antelli Guardian' Bol Juggernaut, but this guy seems to have abandoned what he swore to protect and ran away. β
"What the hell is going to happen now?"
"What about those officers clamoring to judge the authenticity of this new military order, having spent so many days and gathering so many troops, waiting for an order to surrender before they could fight?"
Rhodes heard voices from all directions, and the content made him a little confused, what is the "guardian" that people are discussing, who has the right to make the entire Antelli army surrender?
Continuing to stand there and listen to the words of the people around him, the wooden gate of the military camp not far away slowly opened, and a large group of men who looked extremely brave dragged a large amount of supplies out of the army station and moved towards the Cavehall Forest
"What's going on?" Ryan also emerged from the tent inn, looking strangely at the back of the strange army moving away.
"I don't know, whatever, I'm going to go home today. Rod said with a firm expression, "Ryan, if you have nothing important, I will hire you to escort me home, this is an advance payment, and the commission is one gold coin per day, until I get home." β
"Hmm...... It's really a beauty full of oil and water, but I don't know if it's dangerous. The hunter caught the gold coin thrown by the young man, and thought for a while: "Well, according to the old rules, in order to avoid disputes, I have to explain in advance that I will not deal with humans, elves, dwarves, or livestock or pets belonging to them...... Anything protected by the law does not kill any intelligent life, nor does it accept bargaining after the commission is completed"
"I accept your 'bottom line'. Rod listened to the familiar lines that the hunter seemed to have heard, and couldn't help but smile: "Without further ado, let's go on the road now, the route is up to you, safety first, I believe you won't deliberately detour to get a few more days of commission." β
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